Fold One's Tent Meaning

(idiomatic) To withdraw, especially in a discreet manner; to disengage; to quit.

Example: 1844, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Day is Done" (proem to The Waif), lines 41-44,
  And the night shall be filled with music,
  And the cares that infest the day
  Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
  And as silently steal away.
1982, "No Mercy for the Sisters," Time, 27 Sep.,
  "I won't quietly fold my tent and go away," snapped Sister Catherine.
2005, Terry Neal, "Talking Points Live," Washington Post, 6 Jan. (retrieved 10 Aug 2008),
  There are a good number of Democrats who are unhappy with John Kerry, thinking he folded his tent without a fight.